Growth Management Plan

In one way, Palm Beach County`s comprehensive plan may not be tough enough. In another way, it may be too tough. This mixed message from the Florida Department of Community Affairs, contained in a detailed critique that runs 155 pages, will be sifted, weighed and analyzed by the County Commission and county staff over the next 60 days. Obviously, changes will have to be made before the plan is resubmitted to the state. But the county must hold fast to its overall goal of producing a growth management plan to ensure a continued high quality of life well into the the next century -- and beyond.

The public has made clear its preference for reducing traffic congestion and protecting the remaining open spaces in Boca Raton, yet the city council has done little if anything to achieve those objectives, and has bypassed established zoning policies that made this city such a desirable place to live. The most recent illustration of their unmitigated assault on Boca Raton's green spaces is the approval of 211 townhomes in the Boca Teeca area on land that had been designated as open space/recreation for over 30 years.

Sam Shannon, executive assistant to Palm Beach County Administrator Bob Weisman, resigned on Thursday to accept a job as community development director for the town of Jupiter. Shannon, who has worked for the county for eight years, will officially leave his $60,000-a-year job next Friday. In his new job he will make $63,000 a year and oversee projects that include George deGauradiola's plans to build a 2,300-acre business/residential park on Donald Ross Road that is to include a spring training camp for the Atlanta Braves and a branch campus for Florida Atlantic University.

The Florida Keys could add just 204 new homes during the next year under strict new building guidelines recommended by Gov. Jeb Bush and his Cabinet on Tuesday. Saying Monroe County had failed to take enough steps to protect the Keys' water quality in the past year, the Cabinet voted to trim 51 houses from the number previously allowed in the Community Development Authority's five-year comprehensive plan, developed to protect the island chain's ecology. The revised plan will become final only after a series of public hearings in Monroe County.

Palm Beach County commissioners on Monday officially gutted plans that were to force them to spend $3 million each year to spur the creation of affordable housing. Saying their 3-year-old pledge was unrealistic, commissioners agreed that only $1 million would be spent annually on affordable housing programs. Commissioner Maude Ford Lee said she rejected arguments that the cut was justified because many nonprofit groups are now building moderately-priced homes. But, she said, she would not object to the change as long as the commission promised to spend at least $1 million annually.

City taxpayers will be asked to help cover an estimated $25,000 legal bill the Municipal League of Palm Beach County has rung up fighting a proposed countywide growth management plan. Faced with operating in the red, the league on Wednesday decided to collect an extra $25,000 from 37 municipalities to pay the legal bills of attorney Trela White. Delray Beach, Boynton Beach and Boca Raton will each be asked to kick in $1,525. Small cities, such as Manalapan, Gulf Stream and Ocean Ridge, will be asked to pay $275.

Under a plea bargain agreement worked out on Tuesday, the city of Tamarac`s suspended chief planning official pleaded guilty to grand theft and forgery charges stemming from forged endorsements on two city checks intended for consultants who worked on the city`s Growth Management Plan. As part of a bargain with the state, two counts of cashing forged checks against Thelma Mae Brown-Porter were dropped. She pleaded guilty to two counts each of grand theft and forgery. Brown-Porter, 39, will be sentenced July 7 by Broward Circuit Judge Robert B. Carney after he reviews a pre-sentencing investigation by the probation department.

Palm Beach County residents should be pleased to hear, and quick to take advantage, of the latest idea from county planners: "do-it-yourself" planning. According to the county`s proposed growth management plan, here`s how the idea would work: In unincorporated areas, neighborhood groups or associations would be encouraged to submit their own development plans for their communities. They could ask for a wide variety of special protections, such as architectural standards for new buildings, limits on commercial development or bans on undesirable land uses.

TAMARAC -- The city`s chief planning official is expected to turn herself into authorities this week to face charges that she deposited two city checks totaling $3,195 in her personal account. Thelma Brown-Porter, the city`s director of community development, is accused of forging endorsements on two checks intended for consultants who did work on the city`s Growth Management Plan. Brown-Porter is expected to be arrested this week on felony-theft charges after a monthlong investigation by the Broward County State Attorney`s Office, said Norman O`Rourke, head of that agency`s municipal division.

The public has made clear its preference for reducing traffic congestion and protecting the remaining open spaces in Boca Raton, yet the city council has done little if anything to achieve those objectives, and has bypassed established zoning policies that made this city such a desirable place to live. The most recent illustration of their unmitigated assault on Boca Raton's green spaces is the approval of 211 townhomes in the Boca Teeca area on land that had been designated as open space/recreation for over 30 years.

It took much too long, two years, but Gov. Lawton Chiles and the state Cabinet finally agreed on a growth management plan for the Florida Keys. It's critical that the fragile Keys, which are so vulnerable to overbuilding and environmental damage, be closely watched and protected in the best interests of residents and tourists. One important part of the agreement reached between the state and Monroe County is a cost-sharing arrangement to upgrade sewage treatment and start cleaning up 11,000 "cesspits" that allow raw sewage to seep into the groundwater and the sea. Monroe County will pay no more than one-third of the overall cost, estimated at $125 million, with the state and federal governments picking up the rest.

Sam Shannon, executive assistant to Palm Beach County Administrator Bob Weisman, resigned on Thursday to accept a job as community development director for the town of Jupiter. Shannon, who has worked for the county for eight years, will officially leave his $60,000-a-year job next Friday. In his new job he will make $63,000 a year and oversee projects that include George deGauradiola's plans to build a 2,300-acre business/residential park on Donald Ross Road that is to include a spring training camp for the Atlanta Braves and a branch campus for Florida Atlantic University.

Palm Beach County commissioners on Monday officially gutted plans that were to force them to spend $3 million each year to spur the creation of affordable housing. Saying their 3-year-old pledge was unrealistic, commissioners agreed that only $1 million would be spent annually on affordable housing programs. Commissioner Maude Ford Lee said she rejected arguments that the cut was justified because many nonprofit groups are now building moderately-priced homes. But, she said, she would not object to the change as long as the commission promised to spend at least $1 million annually.

BOCA RATON -- It`s called Boca Visions 2002 and it`s a chance for residents to help plan the city`s future -- at least for the next 10 years. Business, government and residents have formed the group to map out the next decade in Boca Raton. The consensus reached from a series of meetings will be used to influence public policy. "We are trying to get a coalition of government, businesses and citizens to sit down and debate the tough questions that face Boca," said Florida Atlantic University President Anthony Catanese, chair of Boca Visions 2002.

A countywide growth management plan, which has already cost Palm Beach County taxpayers more than $3 million, is too vague to meet state standards, state planners said on Wednesday. In a review that is likely to further fuel the fire that is raging between city and county officials, the Florida Department of Community Affairs said the plan has to be more specific. The plan, drafted by the Countywide Planning Council, cannot merely say it would be nice to have such things as clean air, clean water, affordable housing, integrated schools and historical and environmental preservation, state planners said.

City taxpayers will be asked to help cover an estimated $25,000 legal bill the Municipal League of Palm Beach County has rung up fighting a proposed countywide growth management plan. Faced with operating in the red, the league on Wednesday decided to collect an extra $25,000 from 37 municipalities to pay the legal bills of attorney Trela White. Delray Beach, Boynton Beach and Boca Raton will each be asked to kick in $1,525. Small cities, such as Manalapan, Gulf Stream and Ocean Ridge, will be asked to pay $275.

BOCA RATON -- It`s called Boca Visions 2002 and it`s a chance for residents to help plan the city`s future -- at least for the next 10 years. Business, government and residents have formed the group to map out the next decade in Boca Raton. The consensus reached from a series of meetings will be used to influence public policy. "We are trying to get a coalition of government, businesses and citizens to sit down and debate the tough questions that face Boca," said Florida Atlantic University President Anthony Catanese, chair of Boca Visions 2002.

Six months ago, the Broward County Commission rejected a proposal to let a developer build apartments on 2.6 acres of land in Coral Springs. Nearby residents had been promised in a growth management plan that the land would be a park. So, commissioners once said, it should be a park. But on Tuesday, the commission reversed itself, giving tentative approval to Coral Ridge Properties` plans for townhouses on the property, on Royal Palm Boulevard at Northwest 123rd Avenue, on the north side of Eagle Trace.

A five-member peace-making force was formed on Wednesday to try to end a war that has been raging between city and county officials over a voter-mandated countywide growth management plan. The committee, formed by the leaders of the Palm Beach County Municipal League, is to try resolve the ongoing conflicts about the plan that some city officials insist is a not-so-veiled attempt to destroy their powers of home rule. Members of the Countywide Planning Council, who are formulating the plan, said they were pleased by the league`s action.

Six months ago, the Broward County Commission rejected a proposal to let a developer build apartments on 2.6 acres of land in Coral Springs. Nearby residents had been promised in a growth management plan that the land would be a park. So, commissioners once said, it should be a park. But on Tuesday, the commission reversed itself, giving tentative approval to Coral Ridge Properties` plans for townhouses on the property, on Royal Palm Boulevard at Northwest 123rd Avenue, on the north side of Eagle Trace.